Online friends

How amazing it is that from our humble home, study or room, or perhaps from our iPhone, we can be connected to a world of past and present — a world of friends to encourage and help us — in a way that is inexpensive and very accessible for everyone, through the use of local library computers and home computers.

Some begin by seeing all the dangers of the internet and, yes, they are there, but there are many blessings too. It needs discernment. There is an overwhelming amount of choice, so much that many simply give up. I have been at that place many times in the past, but, as time has passed, I have trimmed down my route to the most helpful places. If you could be spared some of that frustration as you trawl the internet, this article will have achieved one goal.

I need to make a couple of confessions first. I am still committed to pen and paper and have, according to some, a quaint liking for the more tedious methods of research and study. Shelves of well-bound books are my first choice.

I also confess that my website suggestions are not exhaustive and there will be gaps. Like all material outside Scripture, it is to be understood that it is fallible and requires wise discernment.

It may be that you are not familiar with the whole concept of the internet or iPods or downloading messages. My advice is that you ask your minister to point you in the direction of a young person in your church to explain or guide you, or go to your local library and ask for help in using their computers. For a small investment in an iPod, you will have endless hours of blessing.

The following are a summary of a number of helpful sites.

For women mainly

http://www.reviveourhearts.com

This site is hosted by Nancy Leigh Demoss. It will link you to a mix of Bible teaching, interviews and reflections on contemporary issues facing women today.

There is a daily Monday to Friday programme, which you can download or just listen to. There are devotionals, resources and broadcasts, plus some helpful printable material relating to prayer for home, family and church.

The site is supported by a number of books written by Nancy, all well worth reading. My wife has listened to this site for several years and, as a pastor’s wife and mother of four children aged 11-23 and part-time nurse, says it relates ideally to her life situation (allowing for the American context).

http://www.joniandfriends.org

Among 20th-century women, Joni Eareckson Tada stands out as an example and ambassador of the grace of God. Having spent four decades in a wheelchair, she knows what it is to live daily in a hard place and, when she speaks, she takes us beyond theory to reality and well fulfils the strapline, ‘Heaven-sent daily encouragement’.

Her website is a mix of daily ministry, advice and help. It has much to offer those who struggle with difficult life issues. Among the wide spectrum of subjects, I noted a very good handling of autism and how to help minister to and include people affected by it. The strength of this site is its strong biblical foundation. It also has short five-minute ‘daily thoughts’ and profoundly relevant insights from real living for both men and women.

Engaging with society

As we try to minister to the brokenness in the world, we are often accused of not listening well enough, not understanding and then not communicating. Two helpful sites are:

http://www.jubilee-centre.org

This is the site of the Jubilee Centre, a Christian social reform organisation started in 1983. Its aim is to equip the church to be a movement for positive change in society.

This site offers a host of resources, well researched and clearly presented, which help you think about many of the issues we face socially, economically, politically, environmentally, but all in a Christian way. For students, small groups in church and youth ministry, this is a great resource, and there are helpful book reviews, the special Cambridge Papers and downloadable free Bible studies.

http://www.bethinking.org

Living in an age of hard and challenging questions is also a great opportunity to engage with our society with intellectual integrity and be taken seriously. The problem is that many feel a sense of inadequacy and sometimes threat regarding their own faith.

The Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship website provides talks and answers to many of the questions we face in work and church. It offers introductory, intermediate and advanced levels of material on 15 themes, including science and faith, Bible and Jesus, suffering, truth and tolerance, Islam, right and wrong, resurrection and miracles. This is a true goldmine of material on a wide range of subjects by very gifted people, and will enable us to give a reason for the hope we have.

Pastoral care / counselling

http://www.CCEF.org

With the vision of restoring Christ to counselling and counselling to the church, the Christian Counselling and Education Foundation (CCEF) website provides much of great value.

Names synonymous with this site are Dr. Paul Tripp, David Powlison, Tim Lane, Ed Welsh, Julie Lowe, Winston Smith. It offers a biblical way to look at the multitude of pastoral and counselling issues we face personally and within the church. It will introduce for some a new way of biblical thinking on how to address common problems. It is certainly a site to bookmark and you will find yourself going back to it to fix your own brokenness.

Film and books

Two sites for this. Film is many a modern man’s book from which people are ‘learning’ their values and even history.

http://www.ransomfellowship.org

This site describes itself as ‘encouraging the multitudes who want to know more about what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century’.

It is the work of Dennis and Margie Haack, former Inter-Varsity staff workers. There are reviews of films, books and art, plus special articles and eBooks to download. For anyone who is involved in movie ministry (use of film as a way to engage 21st-century minds and a bridge into the non-believing worldviews), this is very useful.

http://www.damaris.org

‘The media department of Damaris seeks to make a positive contribution to contemporary popular culture. We specialise in using critical thinking skills to explore and comment upon the worldviews that are expressed in the latest films, music and TV — and then to compare and contrast these with the worldview that is expressed in the Bible.’

This UK website has a wide range of resources for schools’ RE lessons, church and small groups. Some of this material is free and some has to be paid for.
This site is good for a church to sign up to corporately.

Kids aged 5-12

http://www.whitsend.org

This has a Focus on the Family production of a theatre-style programme that takes place in a small town called Odyssey, with the main focus on the WhitsEnd Ice Cream Parlour.

The story will capture the imagination of children (and adults having a listen in the background). It is a humorous, engaging way to pass on biblical truth, allowing parents to be part of the process. When downloaded it will give many a parent the most amicable car journey and bring to an end, ‘Are we there yet?’

http://www.oneplace.com

This site is an alphabetical compilation of many ministry opportunities. It has so many speakers listed that my advice is to ask your church leader, pastor or elder for their insights and discernment. For children, scroll through the alphabet until you come to Paws and Tales. This is a Bible-based theatre-style programme for younger children.

Aids for Bible study

There are many sites, but one that has a breadth of material from historic and contemporary writers is:

http://www.preceptaustin.org

This is the creation of a Dr. Bruce Hurt, who had undertaken to place on the web a library of commentaries on the whole Bible. It is often worth referring to it for personal study and sermon preparation, since it will expose you to the thinking of saints of the past like John Calvin, Matthew Henry, F.B. Meyer, C.H. Spurgeon, etc. and modern scholars such as John Piper, John MacArthur, IVP commentaries, Ray Steadman, etc. Though, having said this, I think the development of a church or personal library is without equal.

I suggest that you visit some of these sites. I hope and pray that they will allow you to tap into the thinking of many Christians, ancient and modern.